There were plenty of fireworks earlier this week when the Indiana Pacers hosted the Miami Heat. Midway through the third quarter, with the Heat holding a commanding 23-point lead, Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren got into something of a scuffle. Soon after, the two got into it again, and when the dust settled, Warren ended up getting tossed for his part in the altercation.
Butler blew Warren a kiss goodbye, to which Warren responded by flipping Butler the bird on his way off the court. Asked about the incident after the game, Butler had plenty to say — it’s actually too much to get into here, but you can read our recap of it here.
The general gist was that, in so many words, Warren wasn’t in Butler’s league. He also reminded us that the Heat will see the Pacers again this season, and then he reminded us again on social media when he posted a pic of the schedule with their next meeting circled in red on Instagram.
On Friday, the league announced that they’d both been hit with fines for their part in the incident, with Butler receiving the worst of it, apparently for keeping things going on Instagram. Via the NBA’s official release:
Warren has been fined $25,000 for engaging in an altercation and making an obscene gesture following his ejection. Butler has been fined $35,000 for engaging in an altercation and escalating the incident on social media postgame.
As Butler indicated, their next meeting will be on March 20 at Bankers’ Life Arena in Indianapolis, which is more than two months away, so it’s possibly everyone will have cooled off considerably by then. But then again, we’re talking about Jimmy Butler here, so we’re betting on it being a testy affair the next time they step on the floor.
